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Oprah

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“Today on Oprah,” intoned the TV announcer, and all over America viewers tuned in to learn, empathize, and celebrate. In this book, Kathryn Lofton investigates the Oprah phenomenon and finds in Win...
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  • 02 March 2011
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“Today on Oprah,” intoned the TV announcer, and all over America viewers tuned in to learn, empathize, and celebrate. In this book, Kathryn Lofton investigates the Oprah phenomenon and finds in Winfrey’s empire—Harpo Productions, O Magazine, and her new television network—an uncanny reflection of religion in modern society. Lofton shows that when Oprah liked, needed, or believed something, she offered her audience nothing less than spiritual revolution, reinforced by practices that fuse consumer behavior, celebrity ambition, and religious idiom. In short, Oprah Winfrey is a media messiah for a secular age. Lofton’s unique approach also situates the Oprah enterprise culturally, illuminating how Winfrey reflects and continues historical patterns of American religions.
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Price: $29.95
Pages: 304
Publisher: University of California Press
Imprint: University of California Press
Publication Date: 02 March 2011
Trim Size: 9.00 X 6.00 in
ISBN: 9780520267527
Format: Paperback
BISACs:

“A fascinating study of the modern-day deity’s 25 years as the world’s most beloved BFF, exhaustively researched and elegantly considered. Buy it for the smartest Oprah fan you know.”
Kathryn Lofton is the Sarai Ribicoff Associate Professor of American Studies and Religious Studies at Yale University.
Acknowledgments
Introduction

1. Practicing Purchase: The Prosperity Gospel of
a Spiritual Capitalism

2. Celebrity Spirit: The Incorporation of Your Best Life

3. Diverting Conversions: The Makeover as Social Rite

4. Preacher Queen: The Race and Gender of America’s Confessor

5. Reading Religiously: The Reformations of Oprah’s Book Club

6. Missionary Gift: The Globalization of Inspiration

Conclusion

Epilogue: Political Spirituality, or the Oprahfication of Obama

Notes
Index